Towel cabinet



June 30,1959

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United States Patent TOWEL CABINET Bernard'C. Huber-s, Glens Falls, N.Y.

.Application November 25, 1955, Serial No. 548,896

9 Claims. (Cl. 225-12) My invention relates to towel cabinets and particularly to cabinets adapted to dispense paper towels of predetermined length from a web or roll of toweling.- In such cabinets, the toweling usually is in the form of a roll mounted in the cabinet casing, and a metering mechanism is provided for measuring and limiting the delivery or feed of towel for each withdrawal thereof.

In my improved towel cabinet, I provide for the free support of the supply of towel in the cabinet with a towel feed control roller for thus measuring the towel fed at each withdrawal thereof. I provide an improved and simplified metering arrangement wherein the measuring, stop, and release are all inherent in the mechanism and require no buttons, levers, or other manually controlled operating elements for control of the towel supply. The cabinet is constructed so as to provide to a user visual observation of the towel web available for use and thus obviates the unpleasant experience of feeling with wet hands for toweling which isnt there. The feed control roller is rotatably mounted in the cabinet and gravity operated bolt and latching stops limit rotation thereof to a predetermined amount on withdrawal of towel and are arranged for release on release of towel after each withdrawal of towel, thus providing for further free rotation of the feed control roller for another limited amount by withdrawal of more towel. This minimizes tampering with the mechanism by the users and is, therefore, particularly practical in public washrooms.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved and simplified towel cabinet.

Another object of my invention is to provide a towel cabinet having an improved and simplified towel metering and control mechanism.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved towel cabinet with an arrangement for supplying a predetermined amount of towel for each withdrawal with an inherent release of the towel length limiting mechanism on release of the towel after each withdrawal thereof with an arrangement for easily visually observing the towel available in the cabinet.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent, and my invention will be better understood from the following description referring to the accompanying drawings, and the features which characterize my invention will be pointed with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away to show the interior arrangement of an em.- bodiment of my improved towel cabinet; Fig. 2 is a front elevational view, partly broken away, of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figs. 2 and 5, showing in dotted lines the arrangement of toweling in the cabinet; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the cabinet shown in Figs. 1 through 4, with the cover removed to show the interior of the cabinet;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 66 of Fig. 1, illustrating the sliding door mounting; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 3; Fig. 8 is a view of the sliding door mounting from the underside of the cover; and Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 99 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention in which a towel cabinet, particularly adapted for use with paper toweling, is formed with a casing having sides 1 and 2 and a back 3 rigidly connected together and to a bottom 4. These preferably are made of suitable sheet metal and provide a rigid framework for supporting and enclosing the operative elements of the cabinet. In order to provide ready access to the interior of the casing for checking and refilling the cabinet with a fresh supply of toweling, I provide a front panel 5 hingedly connected by a plurality of suitable hinges 6 to the bottom 4 and formed with an angularly extending lip 7 which fits into undercut edges 8 on the sides 1 and 2 and forms a guide for the free end of toweling as it passes from the cabinet. A cover 9 is arranged to cooperate with the front panel 5 and is hingedly connected by a plurality of hinges 10 to the back 3. This cover 9 is formed with a towel tearing edge 11 opposite the part hingedly connected to the back 3 and is provided with a door 12 slidably mounted in guideways formed by guides 13 and 14 mounted on the underside of the cover 9 so as to provide a user with easy visual observation of towel material under the cover simply by sliding the door 12 upwardly by a light touch of a finger under a finger rest 15. The outer edge of the door 12 is adapted to extend in line with the tearing edge 11 of the cover 9. The door 9 may be of metal or it may be made of a suitable transparent material, such as plastic, so as to facilitate observation of the toweling without raising the door. A light leaf spring 16 is rigidly fastened at one end by a support 17 to the cover 9 in a position such that it extends into resilient biasing engagement with a lug 18 on the underside of the door 12 and exerts a light pressure thereon biasing the door 12 outwardly toward the outer edge 11 of the cover 9. A collar 19 on the lug 18. prevents the spring 16 from sliding off the lug and acts as a guide for the spring as the door 12 is slid in and out. The outer position of the door 12 is determined by a pair of projections 20 on the inner edge of the door, which engage stops 21 formed on the guides 13 and 14. These projections 20 may simply be punched and bent outwardly from the door if it be made of metal, or may be molded thereon if it be made of plastic. The inner or raised position of the door 12 is limited by engagement of the finger rest 15 with the edge 22 of the doorway formed in the cover 9. This door arrangement provides for easy observation of the availability of towel in the cabinet without the need of feeling for it and provides for easy grasping of the outer edge of the toweling for pulling it from the cabinet.

In this type towel cabinet, it is desirable that each withdrawal of towel be limited to a predetermined amount. In order to measure and limit the length of towel made available on each withdrawal, I provide a towel feed control roller 23, formed of any suitable material, with a roughened towel contact surface 24, which may be formed by a strip of sandpaper, or the like, secured to the surface of the roller for driving engagement with toweling. This roller is rotatably and easily replaceably mounted in the casing in a set of bearing or supporting brackets 25 and 26 on the casing sides 1 and 2, respectively. The towel feed control includes a set of inherently operable stop mechanisms operable in response ment of the bolt.

to rotation of the roller. One of these mechanisms includes a socket 27 mounted in an opening 28 in the roller and extending transversely thereof adjacent to an end of the roller. The inner end 29 of thesocket 27 is closed for limiting the travel of a bolt 30 mounted slidablylongitudinally therein. A pin opening is formed in the closed end 2290f the socket, and a pin 31 adjustably' secured, as by screw threaded engagement, to the inner end of the bolt, adjacentto the closed end 29, is formed with an enlarged head 32 thereon on the side of the closed-end of the socket opposite to the bolt 30 for limiting the outward movement of the bolt 30 to a predetermined amountcorresponding to the length of the pin 31 extending from thebolt. A bolt stop 33 is stationarily mounted on the side 1 of the casing adjacent to the bracket 25 and-extends substantially parallelto the-surface of the-roller -23 spaced slightly'away therefrom in order to allow the free passage under certain conditions-of the rollerand parts of the stop mechanisms mounted on the roller. The

paper towel supply preferablylisin the forrnofa roll of -toweling'34 which is conveniently rotatably supported in the base of the cabinet between the side 2 and a spacing guide 35, which centers the towel with reference to the roughened surface 24 of the roller. In order to feed the towel smoothly to the feed control roller and to provide a good wraparound engagement therewith, the towel is passed, as shown in dotted lines in Fig.4; around a straightening rod36 and is threaded around'the back of the roller 23, with the end of the towel arranged over the guide lip 7 of the front of the casing and. underthe outer edge of the cover 9.

With this arrangement, when a user desires toweling, he may visually see the towel through the transparent door 12, if it be made of transparent plastic, and can lift the door-by a light upward pressure of a finger on the rest '15, take hold of the end of the towel, and pull out a length of towel as measured by the feed control roller 23. The bolt 30 is slidably extensibly outwardly mounted in the socket 27, and when in its inner or retracted position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, withdrawal of towel in this manner rotates the feed control roller and turns the bolt 30 toward the bolt stop 33 and then under the stop. As the roller is rotatedfurther and the outer end of the bolt approaches a downwardly directed position, with the open end of the socket 27 on the underside, the bolt 3% slides outwardly under the action of gravity to a position with a portion thereof beyond the surface'of the roller until the head 32 of the pin 31 engages the closed end 29 of the socket and thus prevents further outward move- In order to latch the bolt in this fully outwardly extended position, a bolt latching mechanism, operable entirely without outside mechanical controls, is provided to hold the bolt in this position for engagement 'with'the stop 33 when it is turned upwardly. A circumferentially extending latching groove 37 is formed in the bolt 39, such that its inner side is substantially tangential with the surface of the roller when the bolt is in extended position. A latching bar 38, for engagement with the latching groove, is pivotally mounted by a pivot pin 39 for limited movement on the roller adjacent to the bolt 30 and extending longitudinally of the roller. The mounting of the bar on the roller is preferably on a flat or cut-away portion 4G for providing a better bearing surface for the bar on the roller in most of its positions than if it were simply mounted on. the cylindrical surface of the roller.

The latching bar 38 is mounted such that the part thereof extending away from the bolt 30 is heavier than "the, part thereof extending towards the bolt. This can be done in any suitable manner, as by adding a weight to the outer end to make it heavierthanthe inner end or, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the outer end may be made longer, and thus heavier, than the inner end. In this manner, .when'the roller 23- is rotated by withdrawal of towel 34. from the cabinet, it turns in a direction with the latching bar on the trailing side of the bolt 30, so that the inner end of the latching bar is pivoted by gravity away from the bolt as they turn from an upper position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, to a lower position. This rotation extends the bolt outwardly by gravity. Further rotation of the roller 23 in this same direction causes the latching bar 38 to pivot by gravity, so that the inner end thereof is pivoted toward and into the latching groove 37 of the bolt 30 as these elements rise toward their upper positions. This latches the bolt in its outwardly extended position as the bolt approaches the top position, and a braking pin 41, on the roller, engages a series of resilient spring fingers 42 on the side 1 of the casing, so as to tend to slow down rotation of the roller. These fingers also form one-way stop elements, as they prevent reverse rotation by acting as stops which prevent the pin 41 from turning backwards. As the-bolt 30'approaches the bolt stop 33, the outer end-of the latching bar 38 is'biased rearwardly by movement past and in engagement with a resilient spring finger stop 43 mounted on the side 1 of the casing. This causes the inner end of the latching-bar 38 to be yieldingly biased more firmly into latching engagement in the bolt groove shortly prior to engagement of the bolt stop by the bolt for preventing further rotation of the feed control roller and stopping withdrawal of towel from the casing.

The towel can be torn free by a quick transverse and slightly upward movement from either edge of the towel across the tearing edge 11 of the cover 9. After the towel has thus been torn, the tension on the towel within the cabinet is released. The bolt then is automatically released from its rotation-stopping latched position by an arrangement including the distribution of weight of the roller, in any suitable manner, for slight reverse rotation of the roller. In the illustrated embodiment, a weight 44, Figs. 2 and 9, is secured in the roller 23 on the side thereof opposite the bolt 30 and on the latching bar side of the center, such that when the bolt 30 is in engagement with the stop 33, the weight 44 is raised above the bottom position and is of such amount that, when the towel is torn off and the tension thus released, the weight 44 causes the roller 23 to rotate the bolt reversely away from the bolt stop 33. This reverse rotation carries the outer end of the latching bar 38 into engagement with the forward side of the resilient finger stop 43, thereby limitingthis reverse rotation and causing the bar to pivot about itsmounting in a direction moving. its inner end out of the latching groove 37 inthe bolt. This provides for the automatic retraction by gravity of the bolt into the socket 27, and places it in non-stop engaging position, so that it and the latching bar can pass freelyunder the bolt stop 33 on rotation of the roller by further withdrawal of towel from the casing. Thus, the entire control is inherent in the mechanism which measures, stops, and resets itself in position for another cycle of operation without the use of any control button, lever, or other such device.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, modifications thereof will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefore, that my invention is not to be limited to the particular arrangement disclosed, and I intend 1n the appended claims to cover all modifications wh ch do not depart from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent of theUnited States is:

l. A towel cabinet including a casing, afeed control roller rotatably mounted in said casing, a bolt mounted for limited movement in said roller extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation of said roller, means including-a bolt stop engageable by said bolt whenin outwardly latchingsaid bolt .in outwardlyextended position and maintaining said bolt in outwardly extended position during rotation of said roller after latching of said bolt, means providing for reverse rotation of said roller when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, means for unlatching said bolt latching means on said reverse rotation of said roller and for positive stopping of said reverse rotation providing for retraction of said bolt and for free passage of said bolt past said bolt stop on further rotation of said roller.

2. A towel cabinet including a casing, a feed control roller rotatably mounted in said casing, a bolt mounted for limited movement in said roller extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation of said roller to a position with a portion thereof beyond the surface of said roller and formed with a latching groove thereon adapted to be substantially tangential with the roller surface in the outwardly extended position of said bolt, latching means engageable with said bolt in said latching groove for latching said bolt when in extended position operable into latching position by gravity, means including a bolt stop engageable by said bolt when in extended position for preventing further rotation of said roller in a direction to ward said bolt stop, means including the distribution of weight of said roller providing for reverse rotation of said roller by gravity when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, means for unlatching said bolt latching means on said reverse rotation of said roller and for positive stopping of said reverse rotation providing for retraction by gravity of said bolt and for free passage of said bolt past said bolt stop on further rotation of said roller.

3. A towel cabinet including a casing, a feed control roller rotatably mounted in said casing, a bolt mounted for limited movement in said roller extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation of said roller to a position with a portion thereof beyond the surface of said roller and formed with a latching groove thereon adatped to be substantially tangential with the roller surface in the outwardly extended position of said bolt, means including a bolt stop engageable by said bolt when in outwardly extended position for preventing further rotation of said roller in a direction toward said bolt stop, means including a latching bar for engagement in said latching groove on said bolt when said bolt is extended outwardly for latching said bolt in outwardly extended position, means including the distribution of weight of said roller providing for reverse rotation of said roller by gravity when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, means including a one-way resilient stop for resiliently biasing said latching bar firmly into latching engagement in said groove on rotation of said roller prior to engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt and for positive stop engagement of said latching bar therewith on said reverse rotation of said roller for unlatching said latching bar from said latching groove and thereby providing for retraction by gravity of said bolt and for free passage of said bolt past said bolt stop on further rotation of said roller.

4. A towel cabinet including a casing, a feed control roller mounted in said casing, a transversely extending socket in said roller, a bolt mounted in said socket for limited longitudinal movement therein, said bolt being slidably extensible outwardly to a position with a portion thereof beyond the surface of said roller and formed with a latching groove thereon adapted to be substantially tangential with the roller surface in the outwardly extended position of said bolt, means including a bolt stop engageable by said bolt when in outwardly extended position for preventing further rotation of said roller in a direction toward said bolt stop, said bolt being extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation of said roller, means including a latching bar for engagement in said latching groove on said bolt when said bolt is extended outwardly for latching said bolt in outwardly extended position, means including the distribution of weight of said roller providing for reverse rotation of said roller by gravity when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, means including a one-way resilient stop for resiliently biasing said latching bar more firmly into latching engagement in said groove on rotation of said roller prior to engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt and for positive stop engagement of said latching bar therewith on said reverse rotation of said roller for disengagement of said latching bar with said latching groove and thereby providing for retraction by gravity of said bolt into said socket and for free passage of said bolt past said bolt stop on further rotation of said roller.

5. A towel cabinet including a casing, a towel feed control roller rotatably mounted in said casing, a transversely extending socket in said roller, a bolt mounted longitudinally slidably in said socket, said bolt being extensible outwardly to a position with a portion thereof beyond the surface of said roller and formed with a latching groove thereon adapted to be subtsantially tangential with the roller surface in the outwardly extended position of said bolt, means including a bolt stop engageable by said bolt when in outwardly extended position for preventing further rotation of said roller in a direction toward said bolt stop, said bolt being extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation of said roller by withdrawal of towel from said cabinet, means including a latching bar for engagement with said latching groove of said bolt when said bolt is extended outwardly for latching said bolt in said extended position, means providing for reverse rotation of said roller when towel is released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, a one-way stop permitting passage of said latching bar on rotation of said bolt toward said bolt stop and for positive stop engagement of said latching bar on said reverse rotation of said roller for disengagement of said latching bar with said latching groove and thereby providing for retraction of said bolt into said socket by gravity and for free passage of said bolt past said bolt stop on further rotation of said roller by withdrawal of more towel.

6. A towel cabinet including a casing, a feed control roller mounted in said casing, a transversely extending socket in said roller, an end of said socket being closed and having a pin opening therethrough, a bolt mounted longitudinally slidably in said socket, means including a pin secured to said bolt and extending through said pin opening in said end of said socket for limiting sliding movement of said bolt in said socket to a predetermined amount, said bolt being slidably extensible outwardly to a position with a portion thereof beyond the surface of said roller and formed with a latching groove thereon adapted to be substantially tangential with the roller sur-' face in the outwardly extended position of said bolt, said pin being adjustable for limiting movement of said bolt to provide for said desired position of said groove, means including a bolt stop engageable by said bolt when in outwardly extended position for preventing further rotation of said roller in a direction toward said bolt stop, said bolt being extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation of said roller, means including a latching bar for engagement in said latching groove of said bolt when said bolt is extended outwardly for latching said bolt in said extended position, means including the distribution of weight of said roller providing for reverse rotation of said roller by gravity when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, a one-way stop permitting passage of said latching bar on rotation of said bolt toward said bolt stop and for positive stop engagement of said latching bar on said reverse rotation of said roller for disengagement of said latching bartwith said latching groove and thereby providing for retraction of said bolt into said socket by gravity and for free passage of said bolt past said bolt stop on further rotation of said roller.

7. A towel cabinet including a casing, a towel feed assesses of said roller toward said bolt stop, means including a latching bar pivotally mounted on said roller for limited pivotal movement toward and into said latching groove of said bolt by gravity when said bolt is extended outwardly and on rotation of said roller in a direction with said latching bar on the trailing side of said bolt for latching said bolt in outwardly extended position, means including the distribution of weight of saidroller providing for reverse rotation of said roller by gravity when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, means including a one-Way stop mounted on said casing and engageable by said latching bar for biasing said bar firmly into latching engagement with said bolt groove on movement of said latching bar past said one-way stop on rotation of said roller prior to engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt and for positive stop engagement by said latching bar on said reverse rotation of said roller for pivoting said latching bar out of said latching groove and limiting said reverse rotation thereby providing for retraction of said bolt into said socket by gravity and for free passageof said bolt past said bolt stop on rotation of said roller by further withdrawal of towel from said cabinet.

8. A towel cabinet including a casing having two sides and a back with a bottom rigidly interconnected thereto, a front panel hingedly connected to said bottom and a cover hingedly connected to said back, said cover having a tearing edge opposite said hingedly connected part with a door slidably mounted adjacent to said tearing edge providing for visual observation of towel in said cabinet and for grasping an end of the towel, a towel feed control roller, means for rotatably mounting said feed control roller in said casing, a transversely extending socket in said roller adjacent to an end thereof, a bolt mounted slidably longitudinally in said socket and extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation ofsaid roller to a position with a portion thereof beyond the surface of said roller and being formed with a circumferentially extending latching groove thereon adapted to be substantially tangential with the roller surface in the fully outwardly extended position of said bolt, means includ ing a bolt stop engageable by said bolt when in outwardly extended position for preventing further rotation of said roller toward said stop, means including a latching bar pivotally mounted on said roller for limited pivotal movement toward and into said latching groove of said bolt by gravity when said bolt is extended outwardly and on rotation of said roller in a direction with said latching bar on the trailing side of said bolt for latching said bolt in outwardly extended position, means including said casing for supporting a towel supply for engagement with said feed control roller and extensible from said casing between said front and said cover under said tearing edge and door, means including the distribution of weight of said roller providing for reverse rotation of said roller by gravity when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, means including a oneway' stop engageable by said latching bar for biasing said bar firmly into latching engagement with said bolt latching groove on movement of said latchingtbar past said one-way stop on rotation of saidtroller prior to engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt and for positive stop engagement by said latching bar on said reverserotation of said roller for pivoting said latching bar out of engagement with said latching groove and limiting said reverse rotation :thereby'providing for retraction of said bolt into said socket bytgravity and for free passageof said bolt past saidbolt stop.

9. A towel cabinet including a casing having two sides and a back with a bottom rigidly interconnected thereto, a front panel hingedly connected to said bottom and a cover hingedly connected to said back, said cover having a door slidably mounted adjacent an edge thereof providing for visual observation of toweling in said cabinet and for grasping an end of the towel, a feed control roller, means for rotatably mounting said feed control roller in said casing, a transversely extending socket in said roller adjacent an end thereof, an end of said socket being closed and having a pin opening therethrough, a bolt mounted slidably in said socket, means including a pin adjustably secured to the end of said bolt adjacent said closed end of said socket with said pin extending through said pin opening and having an enlarged head thereon arranged on the side of said closed end of said socket opposite said bolt for limiting sliding movement of said bolt in said socket to a predetermined amount corresponding to the length of said pin extending from said bolt, said bolt being slidably extensible outwardly with a-portion thereof beyond the surface of said roller and formed with a circumferentially extending latching groove thereon adapted to be substantially tangential with the roller surface on the inner side thereof in the fully extended position of said bolt,; said-pin being adjustable for limiting movement of said bolt to provide for said desired position of said latching groove, means including a bolt stop mounted on said casing and engageable by said bolt when in outwardly extended position for preventing further rotation of said roller, said bolt being extensible outwardly by gravity on rotation of said roller, means including a latching bar pivotally mounted on said roller in a longitudinally extending direction for limited pivotal movement and adjacent to said bolt with a portion thereof pivotable toward and into said latching groove of said bolt by gravity when said bolt is extended outwardly and on rotation of said roller in a direction with said latching bar on the trailing side of said bolt for latching said bolt in outwardly extended position, means including said casing for rotatably supporting a supply roll of towel for engagement with said feed control roller and extensible from said casing between said frontand said cover under said transparent cover portion, means including the distribution of Weight of said roller providing for reverse rotation ofsaid roller by gravity when released after being stopped by engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt, means including a one-Way resilient stop mounted on said casing and engageable by said latching bar for resiliently biasing said bar more firmly into latching engagement in said bolt groove on rotation of said roller prior to engagement of said bolt stop by said bolt and for positive stop engagement of said latching bar on said reverse rotation of said roller for pivoting said latching bar out of said latching groove and thereby providing for retraction of said bolt into said socket by gravity and for free passage of said bolt and latching bar past said bolt stop on further rotation of said roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,480,294- Overholt Jan, 8, 1924 r 1,724,229 Steiner Aug. 13, 1929 1,906,353 Addler May 2, 1933 2,378,789 Pulver June 19, 1945 

